by We came across this interesting mum’s social media posts, particularly her saree posts where she dished out interesting snippets of her life and accompanied them with jaw dropping pictures. Shruti’s pictures are nevertheless striking as she has managed to learn to ‘up the style’ with grace and unabashedly flaunt greys too.
Sarees have brought several moms together with interesting stories and here is one too from this one who dresses to kill, shares and inspires many others to enjoy the present despite it being a lockdown or otherwise.
Meet the feisty, ravishing Shruthi Haksar aka Ravishing Rambles on Instagram who shares her journey with Mums and Stories. Her description in her own words says, “ Mommy to 2 beautiful girls, traveller and fitness enthusiast”.
Talking about her life, Shruti says, “I quit the corporate world in 2012, when my first daughter was born. Post which I have had a couple of careers, ranging from a home baker to a fitness consultant to selling sarees for a friend online. I have always said that I thrive in chaos! Something I take from my 13 years of corporate experience. So today, I juggle a lot of things, my instagram account, my helpline, my love of sarees, etc. I also plan to start a new venture as soon as Corona goes away, whenever that might be.
A lot of people tell me they hardly have time to dress up or look presentable and I get that. I started the Lockdown with zero help, 2 kids with online classes and a husband who is 24/7 busy with his work.
I did everything, I complained, I even cried, but it took me little time to realize that I was unhappy because I was not doing the things I loved, like workout or dressing up.
So I made time, I would wake up early and finish the workouts, start my day before anyone else so i would get some peace to cook, which I detest, and then be present when my kids needed me. In the evening, my husband changed his schedule so he could be with the kids for a solid four hours where I could do what I wanted to.
Now I also have a 24 hour maid now, which is such a huge help. “
Talking about her love for saree pictures being posted, Shruti shares, “It was Saree Speak, the group on social media that brought my love back for sure. Up until mid-last year, I was not really wearing sarees, I have always loved them but I thought they were too cumbersome to wear on a daily basis. With Saree Speak I started writing, which is what I have wanted to do for the longest time, and wear sarees regularly. Before the lockdown, I was wearing sarees to the mall, salon, you name it, even for grocery shopping!”
Talking about her fitness routine she shares, “ After my second baby, I stopped going to the gym as there were long periods where I did not have any house help, we moved houses, etc. And so I started home exercises two years ago. These days I exercise from 4-6 pm, home self-created routines or Zoe Modgill’s plans, and then an alternate day Zumba class hosted online by a dear friend.”
Talking about choosing not to colour her hair, especially not to hide her grey’s Shruti shares, “ Going grey was not an easy decision. I tried doing it twice before but was discouraged by everyone, including a very stubborn hair stylist! Turning 40 was a game changer. I decided not to let other people’s opinions shape my decisions.
It was not easy in the beginning as it was growing out, people would comment on my face about how old it made me look, some online comments were downright nasty, but I soldiered on. It is my life, my hair, my decision. There are a lot of support groups online for grey transition and I have met some lovely people there. A lot of them still struggle with comments from friends and family, but as for me, these comments roll off my back now. I give 2 hoots.”
Finally this mum has interesting reflections of the lockdown and the entire phase of life. “ The Lockdown, personally, I feel is wonderful! Of course it brings challenges and it is detrimental economically for a lot of people, but for us as a family, it has gotten us closer. I get to see how busy my husband is throughout the day and why he skips meals, simply because he forgets!
He gets to see how involved I am in both the kids’ lives and how this house cannot function without me 😉 And stuff like cooking and cleaning, we took our domestic helps for granted for so long, it made me really appreciate them.
One thing is of course which I didn’t imagine doing is the part of home schooling. No matter how wonderfully the online schooling set up, you do end up teaching the curriculum to your kids yourself. Something I never thought I would do!”
(All photographs and content subject to copyright).
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